Resolve
by more-than-words
Summary: Elizabeth and Henry make their New Year's resolutions.


**A/N:** Just a little bit of fluff for New Year's Eve (strong-ish T-rating). I hope everyone in the MSec fandom has a fantastic 2018; you've all certainly helped to make my 2017 that bit brighter. Happy New Year!

* * *

 **Resolve**

They had dimmed the lights somewhere around opening the second bottle of wine, and that had been when Henry had switched the music on, too. Now it played at a low level as they lay back against the pillows of their bed, sipping wine and exchanging kisses that hadn't been able to wait for midnight.

Henry curled one arm around Elizabeth's back, holding her close to him as he held his wine glass steady with his other hand; both kisses and booze required his dedication on New Year's Eve.

Especially as they had the house to themselves.

They'd originally been disappointed to learn that their children were planning to be elsewhere for the night, with Jason attending a party at Piper's and the girls going to an event with Alison's college friends, but Henry thought their night had turned out pretty well. It wasn't often that he got his wife all to himself, especially not when they had the opportunity to let loose and didn't need to worry about getting out of bed the following morning.

He was definitely planning on making the most of that opportunity.

He pressed a kiss to Elizabeth's mouth, tasting the red wine on her lips and drawing a low hum from the back of her throat. He smiled, enjoying the buzz of the wine and the buzz from their kiss, as well as the look of utter relaxation on Elizabeth's face. "This is nice," he murmured against her lips. "Definitely not a bad end to the year."

She smiled at him and leaned in for another drugging kiss, fingers tugging at the short hairs at the nape of his neck and eliciting a shiver from him as she held his head to hers. "Mmm," she agreed. "It's been a bit of a bumpy one."

Henry leaned back slightly to consider her. "I think we've managed to get through it unscathed."

"I wouldn't call you getting shot getting through the year unscathed." With the hand that wasn't holding her wine glass, Elizabeth stroked his cheek, remembered worry leeching into her expression.

"Hey, baby, I'm okay. Good as new."

"I know." She took a drink of her wine, rolling it around on her tongue before she swallowed and shrugged, the movement disturbing her hair to send it falling across her face. "But…"

He nodded. "Yeah." He lifted his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, wanting to see her properly. "But other than that…"

"Stevie and Jareth broke up. We had to deal with Ali moving away to college. Jason backing Reynolds. I punched a world leader –"

"Because he groped you."

She ignored his interjection, apparently on something of a roll now. "The uncertainty over the election. Beau Carpenter feeding intel to the Russians. A varying percentage of Americans thinking that I'm a murderer. I could go on."

Henry smiled. "I have no doubt." And, damn, he almost wished that she would. There was something about his wife when she was stating her argument that he found ridiculously hot, and he found it even hotter when they'd both put away the better part of a bottle of wine. But he couldn't let her believe that their year had been full of nothing but bumps in the road. He let all of his love and affection for her filter onto his face as his fingers lingered in her hair. "Yet here we are."

"Here we are," she agreed.

He leaned over to kiss her again, his tongue sliding into her mouth and his hand roaming her side through her sweater. When they finally broke apart, Henry could see that he had all but chased away her protestations over the quality of their year just passed – because here they still were. With less than an hour left until a brand new year began, he thought that they found themselves in a pretty good place. "You have any resolutions?" he asked.

Elizabeth shrugged. "I'm kind of reluctant to make any. With the lives we lead, you know? Anything we promise now might well be out of the window by January second." Then she paused and looked like she was thinking about it. "I resolve to keep trying to make the world better for our children."

"That's a very good resolution."

"And I resolve to learn how to make one reliably edible meal that you will all like."

"Oh, babe, don't push yourself too far, you have to stick to resolutions you can actually keep," Henry said with mock seriousness.

She laughed. "You're lucky I have a sense of humour about your thoughts on my cooking."

"You're lucky _I_ have a sense of humour about your cooking."

"Hey, I try."

His face softened. "I know." He loved that she tried. Even though she was a genuinely awful cook and always would be – she still tried. She still wanted to do that for their family. "I love you."

She blinked and a light blush coloured her cheeks, the result of the wine or his words or maybe both. "What's your resolution?"

He answered without hesitation. "To remember my priorities." The look he gave her was loaded with meaning; he knew that he didn't need to explain. Then he tapped the watch she wore on her left wrist, the watch he had given her because it was the same as her father's. "And I resolve to always make time for the things that matter."

"I like that resolution," Elizabeth whispered.

"Me too," he agreed.

Twisting around, Elizabeth placed her wineglass down on her bedside cabinet, and then reached out to take Henry's glass from him so she could discard it next to hers. She turned back to face him and cupped his face in her hands, bringing his mouth to hers in a heated kiss.

He responded enthusiastically, shifting on the mattress so he could hover over her where she lay back against the pile of pillows, lowering his hips down onto hers and sliding his arms beneath her shoulders. She felt so good beneath him, warm and aroused and all soft skin and hot, skilful kisses, and a look of want in her eyes that never failed to make him fall at her feet.

Yeah, Henry figured that they had it pretty good. Despite the bumps in the road, despite the things that could be better – he knew when he had a good thing.

And in that moment, having Elizabeth beneath him was definitely a very good thing, and the perfect way to see in the New Year. He stroked his tongue along hers and brought one hand between them to raise the hem of her sweater. He wanted to feel her skin, wanted their clothes gone, wanted to be buried deep inside her as the clock struck twelve. Start the New Year off right.

He groaned into her mouth when she ran her nails lightly up the bare skin of his back beneath his shirt and, God, his head was spinning in a heady combination of the wine and her touch and he absolutely had to get her naked so he could feel her properly against him and –

Midnight promised fireworks.


End file.
